LAGOS JUNE 9TH (URHOBOTODAY)-Although many fraudsters have been using the names of Popular pop star, Ayodeji Balogun AKA Wizkid in duping his clients and fans, the most striking one is that of a lady who has illegally used Wizkid’s name to collect money running into millions of naira under the guise of working for him.
Urhobotoday learnt that the nineteen years old lady suspect opened a Facebook account in Wizkid’s name and displayed the artiste picture, adding that while chatting with friends on Facebook she pretends to be Wizkid.
The teenager was said to have duped many people, including students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), before she was arrested. Among her victims were also two people living overseas. The money was over $53,000, equivalent of about N10.4 million.
One of the victims was defrauded of $49,000, while she duped the second victim of $12,000. The suspect, who is a student of one of the universities in the country, was arrested after Wizkid reported the case to the police command complaining that someone was impersonating him and duping unsuspecting persons.
Lagos State Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni who confirmed the arrest of the lady to Urhobotoday said acting under the guise of being Wizkid, the lady had defrauded a lot of people, adding that when people started accusing Wizkid of collecting money for shows and not turning up to fulfill his part of the bargain, he reported the matter to him.
Owoseni revealed that the suspect was arrested through investigation by the Special Intelligence Bureau headed by Vera Akpa, a Superintendent of police (SP).
He further warned members of the public to be alert to the activities of fraudsters.
Commending Lagos State Police Command for its prompt action in arresting one of the culprits, Wizkid noted that the action of the police had redeemed his battered image before his international clients.
“I am very thankful to the Nigeria police for what they did for me. The case has been going on for a while now, I thank God we have been able to arrest one of the suspects. We would pursue this case to the court and ensure we get justice. I am very grateful to the Lagos State police command for helping me redeem my image before my clients.
“The actions of these fraudsters have affected my business worldwide. I still have two cases pending in New York, USA now. There was a particular case of a $45,000US Dollar that was collected from a promoter in USA by these fraudsters using my name. There is another case of 25,000USD. I am happy my name is being cleared and I want justice. The situation has affected me psychologically because I was being accused of taking money I knew nothing about. The press also did not believe me so that dampened my morale.” The singer said.